Crain has put left oblique strain behind him

CHICAGO -- Pitching in back-to-back games against the Angels further proved to Jesse Crain that his left oblique strain is now in the past.

"I felt good," said Crain, who threw two scoreless innings against the Angels, striking out two and walking two. "As for the side, I couldn't ask for anything more. I didn't feel it at all.

"It was good getting out there two days in a row, and doing it right away. It made me feel good mentally, too, to get out there and get back into the rhythm of things. I wasn't as crisp as I would have liked yesterday, but I was healthy and excited to be back out there."

Crain hasn't felt the left oblique strain while throwing for the past 10 days, by his estimation.

"I've passed that hurdle," Crain said. "I don't worry about it at all."

Peavy hopes to put together charity event

CHICAGO -- From his Woodjock concert held three years ago in Scottsdale, Ariz., to his work with wounded warriors to his present charity raffle benefiting his foundation and pancreatic cancer research, Jake Peavy has done whatever he could to give back during his time as a Major League player.

Peavy has another fundraiser planned for later in the season, possibly in Chicago in August, but there's only one problem. The right-hander isn't sure if he'll still be in Chicago after the non-waiver Trade Deadline on July 31.

"Obviously, it's a little dicey in planning it with my situation of possibly being traded," said Peavy, speaking before Friday's contest at Wrigley Field. "So I don't know. It's still in the works.

"I would love to do a charity event and raise money for a couple of other causes near and dear to my heart. I love music as well, and this gives me a good excuse to play music."

Through eight starts this season, Peavy has been as solid as any American League starter. As White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper pointed out, Peavy basically has had two rough innings. One of those innings came in the sixth of his last start against Detroit on Tuesday, when Peavy contributed to an eight-run Tigers rally that erased a 6-0 White Sox lead.

But with Peavy pitching so well and the White Sox highly unlikely to exercise the team's $22 million contractual option for 2013, Peavy could have high value on the open market if the White Sox continue their rebuild. Peavy's hope, of course, is that the White Sox stay in contention and general manager Ken Williams stays the course with the group he has.

"You talk about the charity event and the chance of me being traded, and I certainly understand that," Peavy said. "Of course, my hope and wish is that we play well and get a chance to play this thing out and stay in it.

"Let us come together as a team and make this happen. The AL Central is, at this point and time, wide open. Detroit is going to make a run and get better. Cleveland is not going anywhere. That team can really hit -- you saw what they did to Felix [Hernandez].

"We are going to have our hands full. But I think this team showed we can compete and win with any team in the division."

Viciedo ready to pitch in against Cubs

CHICAGO -- Dayan Viciedo entered Friday's series-opening 3-2 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field with eight hits in his last 16 at-bats, including three homers and seven RBIs, raising his average from .196 to .237. And yet until Paul Konerko was hit by a Jeff Samardzija pitch in the third inning of this contest, there was a good chance that Viciedo wasn't going to be used as anything other than a pinch-hitter throughout the weekend, with Adam Dunn moving from designated hitter to left field at the National League ballpark.

"That's' baseball," said Viciedo, through translator and director of cultural development Jackson Miranda, before going 1-for-2 Friday and finishing as Kerry Wood's final career strikeout. "I'm going to wait around and hear what they want me to do. I'll be prepared and be ready to go when I'm called on."

Viciedo had not been talked to about playing right field or even third base, positions he has played previously in his professional career, and manager Robin Ventura indicated Friday that Viciedo probably wouldn't start against the Cubs. When Brent Morel was scratched Friday with a sore lower back, it was Eduardo Escobar who replaced him at third.

With Konerko most likely out for the next few days, Viciedo will return to left and Dunn will stay at first.

Playing anywhere on the field doesn't really seem to matter to Viciedo, who is prepared to do what is asked. If he's inactive, he'll still try to build on the recent changes made to produce this hot streak.

"Mainly what I'm doing is working in the cage," Viciedo said. "I'm also going through in my head what I've been doing during this good streak.

"I'm definitely having more patience at the plate. I've just been getting back to fundamentals. My approach has changed a bit from when I started the season."

Third to first

 Funeral services for Kevin Hickey, Chicago White Sox pregame instructor and former pitcher, will be held Monday and Tuesday. Hickey passed away Wednesday morning at Rush University Medical Center at the age of 56.

Hickey had worked as a pregame instructor for the White Sox since 2004, and he pitched for the club from 1981-83.

Visitation will take place from 3-9 p.m. CT on Monday at Damar-Kaminiski Funeral Home at 7861 S. 88th in Justice, Ill. The funeral mass will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, at Old St. Pat's Church on 700 W. Adams in Chicago.

 Television cameras caught Jake Peavy having an animated discussion in the White Sox dugout in between innings with A.J. Pierzynski in the middle of Friday's 3-2 victory over the Cubs. Pierzynski said he received some texts about the matter but didn't really think there was anything to talk about -- remotely controversial or otherwise -- while Peavy said it was just an in-game matter and had nothing to do with the after-shocks of Jeff Samardzija hitting Paul Konerko in the left side of the face with a pitch in the third.

"That was just in-game fire," said Peavy with a smile, who joked with Pierzynski about the matter or lack thereof in the postgame clubhouse. "It was just a dugout matter. It was just the way I communicate sometimes, just an in-house matter.

"There's nothing to do with our team and our team chemistry. We are all on the same page. Just about the game and what was said on both sides, it was about the game."

 Pierzynski is 10-for-18 with three RBIs over his last three games.

 Gordon Beckham is hitting .370 with six RBIs lifetime against the Cubs.

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.